Power-transmission mechanism.



GIT. WILLIAMS.

POWER TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT-16. I913.

1,150,087. Patented Aug. 17,1915.

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w-wmm I mwoz 61 607 erw/'r Patent-ed Aug. 17, 1915.

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' OFFICE.

'GEORGE T. WILLIAMS, 01? DENVER, COLORADO.

POWER-TRANSMISSION MECHANISM.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Aug. 17, 1915.

Application filed September 16, 1913. Serial No. 789,978. a

To all whom it may concern I Be it known that I, GEORGE T. WILLIAMS, acitizen of the United States, residing at the city and county of Denverand State of Colorado, have invented certain new and useful Improvementsin Power-Transmission Mechanism; and I do declare the following to be afull, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enableothers skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, and t0 theletters and figures of reference marked thereon, which form a part ofthis specification.

My invention relates to improvements in power transmission mechanism, myobject being to provide a construction of this class which shallefliciently perform the function of transmitting power from a primemotor as an internal combustion engine, to the machine or mechanism tobe operated there While my improved construction is adapted for generaluse, whenever it is necessary to transmit power in an eflicient manner,the construction will be described more especially with reference to itsuse in transmitting power from the operating shaft of an explosiveengine to the rear axle, for instance, of an automobile.

Another object of the construction is to provide mechanism of thischaracter, whereby the speed of the driven shaft maybe regulated at willwithout the concussion or jar usually incident to such operations. Byvirtue of my improved construction, the speed of the machine may bechanged from low to high or from high to low, with such ease so far asthe operation of the mecha-- nism is concerned, and so gradually as torelieve the occupants of the machine from the disagreeable sensationordinarily expe rienced when producing speed changes during theoperation of an automobile.

improved construction includes a sectional cone shaped gear, eachsection of. the gear being independently operable and the gear being soarranged that the lme of con tact between it and the gear on the engineshaft, when the last named gear is thrown into mesh with any ofthesections'of the cone shaped gear, is parallel with the axis of theengine shaft. Each section of the cone shaped gear except that ofgreatest diameter is'connected with the driven shaft by means of aratchet sleeve and a pawl carrying collar, the pawls of the collar bemgadaptedto actuate the ratchet sleeve, when the gear is traveling in onedirection, while when the gear is traveling in the opposite direction,the pawls slip over the ratchet teeth without imparting motion to thesleeve in accordance with the well known form of ratchet and pawlmechanism of this character. The gear section or rim is interlocked withthe pawl carrying collar by means of teeth which project into recessesformed, in

.the collar, the recesses being larger than the teeth, and spiralsprings being interposed will slip over the teeth of the ratchet whenthepawl carrying collar is moving in one direction as heretofore explained.'While this ratchet sleeve is normally loose on the driven shaft, whenit is desired to operate the shaft through-the medium of the cone shapedgear, the ratchet sleeve, which is provided with a clutch member at oneextremity, is interlocked with another sleeve carrying a clutch member,the last named sleeve being splined upon the driven shaft, whereby whenthe clutch members are in the interlocking relation, the driven shaft isrotated, at a speed depending upon the rotation of the driving shaft andthe section of the cone gear with which the gear carried by the drivingshaft meshes.

Other novel features of the construction w1ll be apparent as thisspecification proceeds.

Referring to the accompanying drawing,

Figure l is a side elevation partly in section, illustrating my improvedpower transmission mechanism, shown in connection with an explosiveengine and the shaft thereof. Fig. 2 is a sect-ion taken. through thecone shaped gear on the line 22, Fig. 6, looking toward the left, theparts being shown on a larger scale. Fig. 3 is a detail view of thegear-section independently of the pawl carrying collar which when theparts are assembled is employed in connection therewith. Fig. 4 is asimilar view of the pawl carrying collar. Fig. 5 is an end elevation ofthe ratchet sleeve with which the pawls as an explosive engine whoseshaft 6 is formed polygonal, preferably square, in

cross section as shown at 7 to receive an operating gear 8, the openingof which is of counterpart shape whereby the gear is longitudinallyslidable on the part 7 of the shaft. An operating lever 9 is interlockedwith the gear for shifting purposes, the lever having a dog 10 adaptedto engage a toothed plate 12 mounted on a stationary part 13 of themachine. It may be stated that this part 13 may be considered the bed orbottom of the automobile body, the part 14 whichJ-is continuoustherewith being the dash-board in the rear of the engine. 4

Mounted upon a stationary part of the machine by means of journalboxes15 and 16, supported by hangers 17 and 18, is a driven shaft 19 uponwhich is mounted a conical shaped gear 20 so arranged that the line 21of contact between the gear 20 and order of their size beginning withthe largest section. The section A is splined upon a sleeve 22 as shownat 23. The portion 24 of this sleeve beyond the gear section A is.provided with ratchet teeth 25, the said sleeve being normally loose onthe shaft but adapted to be interlocked therewith for power transmissionpurposes. Each of the gear sections B, C, D and E is composed of twoparts, namely, a rim 26 and a pawl carrying collar 27. This rim is thetoothed or cogged portion of the gear and is provided withcircumferential cavities 28 and 29 the latter being adapted to receivethe collar 27 when the part are assembled as shown in Fig. 2. The cavity29 is deeper than the cavity 28, the numeral 30 indicating the bottom ofthe cavity 28 and the numeral 31 the bottom of the cavity 29 whenlooking at the gear member as illustrated in Fig. 3. The collar 27engages the bottom 31 of the cavity 29 and is secured in place by means,of-a fastening plate 32 which engages the bottom 30 of'the cavity 28,the said plate being'secured in place by means ofsuitable fasteningdevices 33. The rim or outer circumferential portion of the collar 27 isprovided .with

recesses 34 adapted to receive teeth 35 with which the rim 26 isprovided. The recesses 34' are larger than the teeth 35 and spiralsprings 36 are located between the teeth and the walls 37rat one end ofeach recess, whereby the rim of the gear may have a limited movementagainst the springs 36 in one direction for a purpose hereinafter morefully described.

Phe collar 27 carries a .plurality of pawls 38 pivoted at 39 andoccupying recesses 40 formed in the body of the collar and havingopenings 41 to allow the extremities of the pawls to protrude into theopening 42, which is occupied by the ratchet sleeve when the parts areassembled. In other words, when the mechanism is connected in assembledrelation as illustrated in Fig. 2, the pawls 38 engage the teeth 25 ofthe sleeve, whereby as the gear turns in one direction, the sleeve willbe actuated by virtue of the interlocking connection aflorded by thepawl carrying collar while when the gear section is moved in theopposite direction, the pawls will slip over the teeth, whereby the gearsections move idly with reference to the driven shaft. I

As illustrated in the drawing, the gear section A is directly secured tothe ratchet sleeve as heretofore explained, whereby the driven shaft 19will be actuated by the movement of the gear section A in eitherdirection. It is assumed that when this mechanim is employed for powertransmission in connection with automobiles, that the gear section Awill always be cnga ed by the operating gear 8 when it is desire toreverse the travel of the machine. In other words, before reversing, thegear 8 will be thrown into the low speed section A of the cone shapedgear.

Secured to one extremity of the sleeve being the extremity adjacent thegear section A, is a clutch member 43, whose interlocking face isdirected outwardly or away from the gear, this clutch member beingsecured to the sleeve'by fifeans of pin 44 which passes through thecollar of the clutch member and the sleeve. Slidably mounted on theshaft 19 beyond the clutch member 43, is a sleeve 45, said sleeve beingsplined on the shaft as shown at 46, whereby it is freely movablelongitudinally of the shaft and rotates therewith. At one extremity,namely, that in the direction of the clutch member 43, the sleeve 45 isprovided with a clutch member 47 arranged to cooperate with the clutchmember 43 when the sleeve 45 is properly shifted for automobile drivingpurposes. At the opposite extremity of the sleeve 45 the latter isprovided with a collar 4 which is normally in engagement'with a collar48 upon which is trunnioned the lower bifurcated extremity 49 of amanually operable lever 50 which is fulcrumed on a stathe lockingfriction face 56 which is connected with the collar by spider arms 57,the said arms curving outwardly from the collar 55, leaving a space 58between the friction face and the collar of the friction device, topermit and releasing action of the clutch member 4 a Located between thecollar 55 of the friction device and the rear collar 4 of the sleeve isa spiral spring 59 which when the lever .is in the positioncorresponding with the inactive condition of the shaft 19, simply holdsthe collar of the friction device in engagement with the rear shoulderof the clutch member 47. When it is desired to actuate .the shaft andconnect it with the rear axlefor instance, ,(not shown) of theautomobile for operating urposes, the chauffeur will operate the banlever 50 by moving. the up r Ia'rm thereof in the direction indicated ythe arrow a see Fig. 6, whereby the lower bifurcated arm, together withthe collar 48, the sleeve 45 and its clutch member 47, -will' be movedtoward the coiiperating clutch'member 43. During this operation, thespring 59 will first be compressed and act upon the collar 55 of thefriction device and force the face 56 of the latter into operativeengagement with the gear section A, whereby the friction device will berotating'as fast as the gear section A by the time, the clutch members43 and 47 are brought into interlocking engagement, thus preventing anyjerking action when starting'the machine and preventin any sudden changeof speed due to the interlocking of the coeperating clutch members. j

- Itwill be observed that the sleeve 45 and v the friction device areindependently movable toward the clutch member 43.

Since when the lever 50 is actuated as indicated byv the arrowa thesleeve 45 together with the. clutch member 47 will be positively movedtoward the member 43, while the friction face 56 of the friction devicewill be forced against the-adjacent face ofthe gear'section A by. virtueof thecompression ofthe spiral spring 59. The friction face 56 of-i thefriction. device is normally, or

v when the shaft 19 is not in motion, slightly 'separatedfromthegearsection'A.- As soon however,-as the lever 50 begins itsmovementto cause the clutch member-47 to approach its coiiperatingmember,the'compression of the spring 59 will drive the'friction face 56'against the gear section and cause the shaft 59 to begin its rotarymovement before the two clutch members are in interlocking relation. Theclutch member 47 may be provided with fingers 60 which project betweenthe spider arms 57 of the friction device until the clutch members arein engagement, whereby the-rotary action of the clutch member due to theengagement.

between the collar 55 of the friction device and the rearshoulder of theclutch member 47. a r v In order to facilitate, the operation ofchanging the speed ofthe shaft 19 and consequently of the automobile tobe operated thereby and cause the cogs of the operating gear 8 to slipre'adily fromtheir intermeshing relation with one gearsection into thecorresponding relation. with another gear section, the cogs of the gearv8 and those of the gear sections A, B, C, etc., have their extremitiespointed as'shown at 2 and- 3. Hence as the gear 8 isshifted from itsmeshing relation with one section. of the cone gear into anothersection, the cogs of the two gears by virtue of their beveledextremities will slip readily past each other, and by virtue of the factthat the rim members 26 of the gearsections B, C, D and E, may yield inone direction against the .spring's 36. and in the opposite direction byvirtue of the slipping of the pawls 38 over the teeth of the ratchetsleeve; these gear sections have sufficient yielding capacity toovercome any difficulty in movin g the operating gear from it's'meshingrelation with one section into a corresponding relation with anothersection of the cone gear. 1

It is preferred that the width of the cogged periphery of the gear"8-shal1 be somewhat wider than the periphery of either of the gearsections B;C, D and E in order that it shall always be in mesh with twoof the sections. It will be understood, however, that the section ofless diameter will control the speed of the shaft 19, since the smallergear section will rotate somewhat faster than the adjacent largersection. The gear section A however, is preferably of somewhat greaterwidth than the' will be readily understood. The person in 5 charge ofthe machine will naturally start the machine with the operating ear 8 inmesh with the largest sectionA o the-cone shaped gear. Then ashejdesiresto increase the speed of the machine for agiven rotarymovement of the operating gear, he will shift the latter forwardly andcause it to mesh with a smaller gear, thus increasing the rotary actionof the shaft 9 for a given rotation of the engine shaft 6.

It will be understood that when the engine is started or cranked, theclutch members 43 and 47 will be separated and the lever 50 in theposition shown in Fig. 6. If it be assumed that the operating gear 8 isin mesh with the section A of the cone gear when the engine is started,the person in charge of the automobile for instance, will shift thelever 50 from the position shown in Fig. 6 to the position shown in Fig.7, whereby the shaft 19 will be interlocked with the ratchet sleeve 22and consequently operated by the section A of the cone shaped gear. Inthis case, the automobile will-start at the lowest possible speed. Thenas the operator desires to increase the speed of the machine, he shiftsthe gear 8 on its shaft 6 by means of the lever 9 as heretoforeexplained.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim is:

1. Transmission mechanism including a cone shaped gear composed ofindependently operable sections, a straight gear movable to successivelymesh with said sections, a sleeve upon which the cone shaped gear ismounted, one section of the gear being fast on the sleeve to movetherewith in either direction, while the other sections are eachcomposed of an outer rim and an inner collar having an 1 interlockingconnection with the rim to permit a limited independent rotary movementin one direction, pawls carried by said collar and the sleeve havmgratchet teeth which said pawls are adapted to engage to rotate thesleeve in one direction, while the pawls slip idly .over the ratchetteeth in the opposite direction, being the direction opposite'the firstnamed movement of the gear rim independently of the collar.

' 2. Transmission mechanism including a able to successively mesh withsaid sections,

a sleeve upon which the cone shaped gear is mounted, one section of thegear being fast on the sleeve to move therewith in either direction,while the other sections are each composed of an outer rim and an innercollar having an interlocking connection with the rim to permit alimited independent rotary movement in one direction, pawls carried bysaidcollar and the sleeve having ratchet teeth which said pawls areadapted to engae to rotatethe sleeve in one direction, w 'le the pawlsslip idly over the ratchet teeth in the opposite-direction, being thedirection opposite the first named movement of the gear rimindependently of the collar, a shaft upon which the sleeve is looselymounted and adjustable means for interlocking the sleeve with the shaftfor power transmission purposes.

3. Transmission mechanism including a cone shaped gear composed ofindependently operable sections, a straight gear movable to successivelymesh with said sections, a sleeve upon which the cone shaped gear ismounted, one sect-ion of the gear being fast on the sleeve to movetherewith in either" direction, while the other sections are eachcomposed of an outer rim and an 1nner collar having an interloclnngconnection w1th the rim to permit a limited independent rotary movementin one direction, pawls carried by said collar and the sleeve havingratchet teeth which said pawls are adapted to engage to rotate thesleeve in one direc- 'cone shaped gear composed of independentlyoperable sections, a straight gear movable to successively mesh withsaid sections, a sleeve upon which the cone shaped gear is mounted, onesection of the gear being fast on the sleeve to move therewith in eitherdirection, while the other sections are each composed of an outer rimand an inner collar having an interlocking connection with the rim topermit a limited independent rotary movement in one direction, pawlscarried by said collar and the sleeve having ratchet teeth which saidpawls are adapted to engag: to rotate the sleeve in one direction, w 'Iethe pawls slip idly over the ratchet teeth in the opposite direction,being the direction opposite the first named movement of the gear rimindependently of the collar, a shaft upon which the sleeve is looselymounted, adjustable means for inter locking the sleeve with the shaftfor power transmission purposes, the said means including a clutchmember fast on the ratchet sleeve, a second clutch member splined on theshaft and adjustableto interlock with the correspondin member of theratchet sleeve, and a friction device carrried by the splined clutchmember, and adjustable with the latter to engage the adjacent face of agear section in advance of the interlocking of the clutch members.

on the sleeve to move therewith in eitherto engage to rotate the sleevein one direction, while the pawls slip idly over the ratchet teeth inthe opposite direction, being the direction opposite the first namedmovement of the gear rim independently of the collar, a shaft upon whichthe sleeve is loosely mounted, adjustable means for interlocking thesleeve with the shaft for power transmission purposes, the said meansincluding a clutch member fast on the ratchet sleeve,- a second clutchmember splined on the shaft and adjustable to interlock with thecorresponding member of the ratchet sleeve, and a friction devicecarried by the splined clutch member and adjustable with the latter toengage the adjacent face of a gear section in advance of theinterlocking of the clutch members, the friction device beinginterlocked rotatably with the splined sleeve until the clutch membersengage.

6. Transmission mechanism including a driving shaft, a straight gearmounted thereon to rotate therewith but slidable longitudinally thereof,a driven shaft having its axis inclined to that of the driving shaft, acone shaped gear mounted on the driven shaft and composed ofindependently operable sections which the straight gear is adapted toengage during its longitudinal movement, a sleeve with which one sectionof the cone gear is made fast to travel therewith in both directions,the other sections of the cone gear having a ratchet and pawl connectionwith the sleeve to compel the sleeve to travel therewith in onedirection, the rims of the said gear sections having a limited movementindependently of the sleeve in the same direction.

7. The combination of a shaft, a sleeve its recess to permit a limitedindependent movement of the rim in one direction, spring actuated pawlsalso carried by said collar, the sleeve having ratchet teeth which thepawls engage to rotate the sleeve in one direction.

8. The combination of two gears arranged in suitable proximity, one gearbeing cone' shaped and composed of independently operable sections forspeed changing purposes, and the other gear being adjustablelongitudinally of its shaft and the two gears being so arranged thatduring such adjustment the longitudinally movable gear will besuccessively brought into cooperative relation with the sections of thecone shaped gear, the teeth of the adjustable gear and the sections ofthe cone shaped gear having their extremities pointed to facilitate theshifting operation, certain of the sections of the cone shaped gearhaving a limited independent rotary movement in one direction for thepurpose set forth.

9. Transmission mechanism including a cone-shaped gear composed ofindependently operable sections, a straight gear movable to successivelymesh with said sections, a sleeve upon which the cone-shaped gear ismounted, one section of the gear being fast on the sleeve to movetherewith in either direction, while the other sections are each entlyoperable sections, a gear movable to successively mesh-with the saidsections, a sleeve upon which the cone-shaped gear is mounted, thesections being each composed of an outer rim and an inner collar havingan interlocking connection with the rim to permit a limited independentrotary movement in one direction, the collar being free to move in theopposite direction.

11. Transmission mechanism including a cone-shaped gear composed ofindependently operable sections, a driving gear movable to successivelymesh with the said sections, a sleeve upon which the cone-shaped gear ismounted, the sections being each composed of an outer rim and an innercollar having an interlocking connection with the rim to-permit anindependent rotary movement in one direction.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

GEORGE T. WILLIAMS. Witnesses A. J. OBRIEN, .ANNA L. LEHMAN.

